NEW YORK: US natural gas futures slid about 2percent on Tuesday as daily flows to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants dropped to a four-month low.
Front-month gas futures for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) fell 6.2 cents, or 2.0percent, to USD3.117 per million British thermal units (mmBtu).
Financial group LSEG said average gas output in the US Lower 48 states fell to 108.8 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in June, down from 109.7 bcfd in May and a monthly record high of 110.6 bcfd in December 2025.
Analysts said mild spring weather allowed energy firms to stockpile more gas than usual. But they noted recent output declines likely reduced the surplus of gas in inventories to around 5.9percent above normal during the week ended May 29, down from 6.2percent above normal the previous week.
Looking forward, meteorologists forecast the weather would remain mostly warmer than normal through June 17, which should boost demand for gas from power generators to keep air conditioners humming. About 40percent of US electricity generation comes from gas-fired power plants.
LSEG projected average gas demand in the Lower 48 states, including exports, would rise from 98.2 bcfd this week to 101.0 bcfd next week. Those forecasts were similar to LSEG’s outlook on Monday.
Average gas flows to the nine big US LNG export plants fell from 17.1 bcfd in May to 16.0 bcfd so far in June due to spring maintenance at several plants, including E xxonMobil/QatarEnergy’s Golden Pass facility and Freeport LNG’s plant in Texas. That compares with a monthly record high of 18.8 bcfd in April.
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